Never Give Up
by uniicornbitch
Summary: Everyone knows that The Marauders are a bunch of womanizers, mostly two of them. But everything changes when James realizes he wants Lily more than anything else and Sirius falls for a girl who's out of his reach. They'll just have to Never Give Up on fighting for them. Rated M for language and mature content in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I'm not J.K. Rowling and obviously I do not own her characters, everything else that you don't recognize is mine.  
I'm Spanish, btw, and I'm writing this in English just to practice a little bit, so don't hate me for my bad grammar.  
I hope you enjoy the story :)

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: Universe and the New Girl**

"Hurry up, Padfoot!" James said, running as fast as he could. "There's no time to flirt with girls, we're going to miss the train!"

Sirius ignored him, and kept on complimenting the girl. The fact that she was a muggle didn't bother him, she was just HOT. He bent down to whisper something dirty in her ear, and she blushed like crazy. James rolled his eyes and ran back to Sirius, grabbing his shirt and pulling him away from the girl. Sirius winked at her before turning his head and running to Platform 9 ᶟ/₄. They only had ten minutes until the train left to Hogwarts.

On the other side of the wall their two best friends were waiting for them impatiently.

"What the hell were you doing, guys?" Remus asked, looking at his watch. "We've been waiting for you for almost twenty minutes!"

"We'll be lucky if we find an empty compartment" Peter added, looking nervously at the train.

"Sirius was trying to get a girl in his pants" James explained while getting in the train.

Remus and Peter just rolled their eyes and the four of them walked to the end of the train, where there would be enough empty seats for them.  
On their way, people greeted and high-fived them. It wasn't news to anyone that they were the most popular guys in Hogwarts. They deserved it, though. At least that's what James thought. They were the best pranksters the school had ever had, they were nice to _almost_ everyone and when someone needed help they would always find time to give them a hand.

They were also very good-looking; they had every girl on their feet, begging to go out with them. Well, not every girl. Lily Evans came through James' mind. He loved teasing her, pranking her, making her mad. He loved that she was the only girl to ever say no to him when he invited her out to every Hogsmade trip. She wasn't afraid of standing up to him, of telling him how arrogant he was, of turning him down whenever he asked her out. And that's what made James like her even more than any other girl at school.

"Hey, I've found an empty compartment here guys!" Peter yelled as he entered in it.

Remus and Sirius followed behind. James was on his way when someone bumped into him while exiting a compartment. A book fell to the floor and James picked it up. When he looked up to see its owner a smile spread across his face.

"Oh, great! Of all the people I could've bumped into, it had to be you" Lily sighed in annoyance and rolled her eyes.

"Well, it can't be a coincidence then. I think the Universe is trying to tell us something" he said with a mocking grin on his face.

"Save your compliments for someone else, Potter."

She took the book from James' hands and started walking away from him.

"It was nice to see you too, Lily Flower!" He smirked and waited for a response from her.

"Fuck off, Potter!" She snapped walking away. She didn't even turn to face him.

James stood there for Merlin knows how long, watching the red head walk away with a huge smile on his face. He missed those arguments with her. During the summer, the only one he could fight when he was bored was Sirius, and he was so damned annoying that he stopped trying to pick up fights with him.

"Prongs, could you just stop daydreaming for a while and sit with us?" Sirius asked, poking his head out of their compartment. "We're deciding on which should be our first prank of the year."

They sat there, planning, talking and laughing nonstop for five minutes. Peter's face was red from laughing; Remus was grabbing his stomach, trying to stop the laughter. Sirius had tears running down his cheeks and James was gasping for air. Peter stood up to open a little the window to get some fresh air when someone else opened their compartment's door.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here with you? The other compartments are full."

A girl was standing there on the door. She was smiling awkwardly at them. She wore a pair of shorts which were nearly hidden by an XL navy-blue sweatshirt with the logo _OBEY _printed on its front. Her feet were hidden in some red classic Vans and her hair was tied back in a messy bun with two strands of hair falling down the sides of her face. It was hard to say its exact color because it was a mix between blonde, light-brown and red. Her eyes were also a mix between a light-blue and gray and were hidden behind a pair of squared glasses.

"Oh... um... s-sure" Remus stuttered and moved next to Peter so she could sit between him and the door.

"You look familiar, are you in Ravenclaw?" Sirius asked.

"Ravenclaw?" the girl asked. "What is that?"

The four boys looked confused. James was the first to speak.

"Wait, have you ever been in Hogwarts before?"

"No, this is my first year as a student in here" she said.

"You still look familiar, though" Sirius insisted. "Last year we had a meeting with some students from Ireland's Witchcraft and Wizardry School. Were you in there?"

"No, I'm not from Ireland" the girl said, looking at her feet, as if trying to hide something. "I'm not exactly from the UK."

"Really?" Peter asked. "It doesn't seem like it. You have a really good accent and you don't look like a stranger."

"Thanks" she smiled at him.

"So, where are you from?" James asked her, curiosity winning over him.

"Spain."

"WHAAAT?!" The four boys were shocked.

"What are you doing in this train if you're from Spain?" Remus asked.

"Well, it's quite a long story" she answered.

"It's a long ride" Sirius stated.

She smiled at him. She didn't like to tell strangers about her, but they seemed nice people. In that moment, the girl realized she didn't even know their names and she hadn't even introduced herself which seemed a bit rude.

"I'm Cristina Hernandez by the way" she said shaking their hands.

"Nice to meet you, I'm James Potter" he shook her hand and smiled at her.

"Sirius Black" he kissed the top of her hand and winked playfully at her.

"Peter Pettigrew" he blushed at the touch of her hand.

"Remus Lupin" said the last boy with a smile.

"So Cristina, tell us how you got to the point of leaving Spain to study in Hogwarts" said Sirius.

Cristina coughed twice and began telling those guys she'd just met how she ended up in there. She told them about how she always found their language so interesting, how she always dreamed of moving to England, studying in there. Until she found out she was a witch and went to a special boarding school in Spain: _Escuela de Magia y Hechicería Los Santos_. She also told them that her headmaster, la señorita Esperanza, knew Professor Dumbledore from years ago and asked him if he would admit in their school a new student for 7th year. But she remained silent about her family. That was a subject she didn't want to get into.

"Now that you know my story... would you mind answering me a question?" She asked them.

"Shoot" Peter said.

"What is Ravenclaw, again?"

The four boys laughed and Remus was the one to tell her.

"Well, your school might work differently than ours. Hogwarts is divided into four houses: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. On your first day of your first year, you are sorted into one of these houses. Slytherin is where all the arrogant, ambitious and douche-bags go. The smart and brilliant ones are sorted into Ravenclaw, although their egos are huge. Hufflepuff... well... it's Hufflepuff, there's not much to say about it-"

"You don't really want to be sorted into Hufflepuff..." Sirius cut him off. "It's where all the dumb ones go!"

James smacked the back of his head.

"Ouch!" Sirius rubbed the area he got smacked at and saw his friends staring back at him. "_What?! _It _is_ true what I said, and you know it!"

They just rolled their eyes and Cristina laughed. She guessed Sirius was the extroverted one without whom the group would be incomplete.

"And in Gryffindor is the best house you can be sorted in" Remus proceeded with a grin on his face. "Gryffindors are brave and courageous, cute, intelligent and funny."

"I'm guessing you guys are all Gryffindors, then" Cristina said.

"Yup!" Sirius responded, hitting lightly his chest with his fist, trying to look proud of himself.

"Well, you are quite similar to Ravenclaw then."

"Huh?" eight pair of eyes were looking at her, shocked and confused.

"Well you both are smart and intelligent and your egos are big!" She chuckled.

The five of them started laughing like crazy when a woman stopped by their compartment, carrying a cart full of sweets.

"Anything from the cart, kids?" the woman asked.

The boys all put their hands in their pockets to get money to pay for their sweets. When the woman left, James looked at her.

"Didn't you get anything to eat?"

Cristina shook her head. "I forgot to bring some money with me. Oops."

He nodded and gave her some of the sweets he bought.

"Thanks" she said, and ate her chocolate frog.

Suddenly, the door opened and a red haired girl stood in there.

"There is no way you are Head Boy, Potter!" the girl yelled at James.

"Hey Lily-Bean, how was your summer?" Sirius asked her with a smile on his face.

"Shut up, Black! Not now!" She snapped and turned her attention back to James. "You weren't even a prefect! How could you possibly be Head Boy now?! It should be Remus, not you!"

Cristina watched them yell at each other back and forth, calling themselves names and their faces burning with anger.

"And so the nightmare begins again!" Sirius muttered and focused on eating his sweets.

Cristina hit Sirius' leg with her foot and asked him with her eyes what was going on.

"_It happens ALL the time_" Sirius mouthed. "_I'll explain later."_

Cristina nodded and sat back, still looking at Sirius, trying to avoid the screams with focusing on the boy's symmetrical features.

He had short, jet-black hair and a pair of Caucasian-blue eyes that where hypnotizing (A/N: I don't care if his eyes are truly blue or not, I want to picture them blue, and that's what I'm going to do, sorry if my fic is not accurate to the real description of the characters). His skin was pale and he had a few freckles on his nose, which were almost impossible to see. His lips were the shape of Cupid's bow. The bottom lip thicker than the top one, which just made those lips more kissable. His jaw was drawn by the gods; it was just perfect to anyone's eyes.  
To Cristina, it seemed like the world had just stopped spinning, she didn't hear anything nor did she see anything but Sirius. She was shocked at how perfect he looked like. When he stared back at her she looked away, trying to hide the fact that she was admiring him.

"WOULD YOU TWO PLEASE JUST SHUT UP?!" Peter snapped, standing on his feet. "I'm gonna put my robes and see Wendy. I don't think I'm coming back in here."

He walked through the door and left everyone completely stunned. James and the girl fell silent, and Remus' eyes were wide open in shock. Sirius was still acting as if nothing was going on, and Cristina felt like this was the most awkward moment in her life.

"I- I uh... I guess you and James will have to follow me then" the girl said to Remus. "We have a prefect meeting, and of course Head Boy and Head Girl must be there."

With that, she just left followed by the two other boys. When the door closed behind them Sirius muttered: "Love is in the air."

Cristina chuckled and sat crossed legged in front of him.

"So-" she was just about to say something when the door opened again and a kid stumbled into the compartment, falling on the floor.

"Next time you won't get in my way, you mudblood!" a fair-haired boy snapped from outside the compartment.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Malfoy?" Sirius asked, getting on his feet as Cristina helped the kid.

_Poor thing_, Cristina thought. _He's probably just thirteen years old._

Cristina was Spanish, but she was completely sure about what mudblood meant. She was a muggle-born and she'd heard this kind of insults too many times. _Sangre sucia!_ She remembered the first time she was called that. She couldn't understand why the fact that her parents were muggles and she was a witch affected people so much, well, only the pure-bloods.

"Ooh... what do we have here?" Malfoy asked, completely ignoring Sirius and focusing on Cristina. "I have never seen you before, girl. Are you new?"

She didn't answer. She knew better than that. If Malfoy wouldn't have treated the poor kid like that and shown some respect to people, she would have been nice to him, but with just one minute of having known him, she had enough.  
Cristina ignored him and helped the kid get out of their compartment.

"Are you okay?" she asked the kid.

He nodded and muttered a _"thank you"_ and ran away. Cristina just went back inside and stood next to Sirius.

"You shouldn't be running around with people like him, girl" Malfoy warned her. "People like them aren't any good to our world. You should come with us; we defend the pure-bloods and loathe the mudbloods. Just the way it has to be."

"I'd say that I'd love to accept your offers, but momma told me not to lie" Cristina answered. "I do not have any interest in accepting it, nor will I ever want to. I'm a, what you like to call, _mudblood_ and I'm proud of it. So goodbye, it wasn't very nice too meet ya."

With that, she closed the door to her compartment, but before it was totally closed his voice said: "You filthy mudbloods should all die."

With that, Sirius tried to open the door again and hex the hell out of Malfoy, but Cristina stopped him before he got to open the door.

"Hey, hey!" she said making him sit. "Ignore him, he's an asshole."

"But he just called you a-" he said while trying to stand up again.

Cristina stopped him.

"So what?" she said, sitting next to him, her head thrown back against the wall, facing the ceiling.

"Well, it's just disrespectful" he muttered under his breath.

"If you give so much credit to a word, then it will have the meaning it has. Just ignore it. Someday people will forget about this word" Cristina said.

Sirius shrugged and tried to change the conversation, "I keep thinking that you look familiar and I don't know exactly where from."

"Well, keep on trying to find out, I'm going to get changed into my robes" she said, leaving him and making her way to the bathroom.

Sirius didn't want to move, so he just got changed in the compartment and sat back down, and picked his _Sexy Witches_ from his bag. He loved those magazines, seeing young half-naked hot witches was his favorite hobby. He had a collection of every number of _Sexy Witches_ under his bed at James'. He started looking at the pictures and comparing boobs, stomachs and legs'. He turned another page when he saw it. His eyes opened wide in shock, his mouth fell open and his hands started shaking.

"Holy shit!" he yelled and jumped off his seat.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Cristina Misty Lips and Porn Stars**

When Cristina got out of the bathroom she passed by a group of boys chatting in the corridor and laughing like crazy. But the moment she walked next to them they all fell silent.

"No way..." someone muttered.

"It can't be true!" another one whispered.

She even heard someone whistle at her. Her face went all blank, she tried to ignore them, pretend she didn't hear them. She tried to convince herself that she didn't know what they were talking about.

When she opened the door back to their compartment Sirius ran to hug her.

"Merlin! I knew you looked familiar to me!" He screamed and let her go, jumping from the excitement. "You are Cristina Misty Lips! From _Sexy Witch _magazine!"

_What? They also read those magazines in here?! Shit! _She thought.

"I- um... yeah, that's me" she smiled at him. "I see you found out why I looked familiar."

"Oh my God, do you know I am a huge fan of yours?!" Sirius yelled, still jumping from the excitement. "I have every magazine you appear in!"

That comment made her blush and she sat down, trying to hide her embarrassment.

"How is it that you already have a job and you are studying?" Sirius asked, closing the door behind him and sat next to her, grinning widely.

"Oh, um... let's just say that being a model is just a hobby to me."

"If you can call posing half-naked in front of a camera a hobby" Sirius snorted.

"Sirius... I... um... I pose for others magazines, you know?" Cristina muttered, trying to hide her embarrassment.

It was awkward talking to someone who only knew you from an erotic magazine where girls posed half-naked so boys could please themselves watching them. She started posing for _Urban Street Witch_ magazine when she was fifteen and a half. She loved posing for them and getting paid with the clothes she posed with during the photo shoot. Until it became more than a hobby, it became her job outside _Los Santos_. She left every Saturday morning to pose for a clothing magazine until one day, when she was sixteen; she received an offer to pose for _Sexy Witch_ magazine. She wanted to decline, but while playing a game of _Truth or Dare_, Carlos, her friend, dared her to accept the job, telling her she wouldn't because she was afraid of showing her body to people, as she always wore big sizes clothes. And she did. And she liked hearing people say that she had a nice body. But since then, most people remembered her from _Sexy Witch_ magazine and that annoyed her a little.

"Well, obviously I'm not the kind of guy who buys fashion magazines" Sirius joked, trying to make the awkwardness go away. "Do I look like one?"

"No" Cristina laughed. "Definitely not."

Once the tension between them was gone they started talking and making jokes, telling each other about themselves.

"And- And when our teacher opened the door he saw the whole classroom painted in pink and didn't know how to change it back to its original colors, but to top it all, Ernesto, the teachers' pet was also covered in pink!" both laughed at Cristina's anecdote.

"I see you're one hell of a prankster too" Sirius said, still laughing. "The boys will like hearing about it. We could use you to pull some pranks this year, if you'd like to."

"That would be an honor" Cristina said and laid back on the window, resting her legs on Sirius' lap.

"There should be more girls like you around Hogwarts" Sirius admitted. "They're so much more fun to be around than those daddy's spoiled girls!"

"Well, you only say this because I'm different than most girls, I'm a tomboy and I'd rather be friends with a boy than a girl, because most girls only give you headaches. But if all girls were tomboys like me, you'd want them to be more girl-like."

"Good point well made" said Sirius. "Then I'm okay with you being the only tomboy girl friend I have."

"Oh, so you consider me your friend?" she asked cautiously, making fun of him.

"Well, I- uh- yes, I do" he admitted, playing with her shoe-laces. "I mean, we just met and all but I think you're nice and I kinda wish you'll be around The Marauders a lot, really often to be honest."

"The Marauders?" Cristina asked.

"Yeah, uh... it's the name we call our group of friends."

"How many are there?"

"Just the four of us" Sirius explained. "Remus, Peter, James and I."

She nodded and smiled.

"Well, I'd love to hang out with The Marauders really often" she said, honestly. "You've been the only ones to be nice with me since I got into this train."

"Yeah, Hogwarts Express rides can be a torture if you don't have anybody to talk to."

She nodded and the door opened at that same time. Remus got in and closed the door behind him.

"Thank Merlin, it's over!" he yelled, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. "I swear if I have to presence any other fight between the two of them I'm going to kill myself."

"It's okay, Moony" Sirius tried to comfort him. "We all wish they'd stop fighting already and confess their secret love to each other."

"Huh?" Cristina asked, confused.

"Remember James? The one who was arguing with the red head before?" Sirius asked. Cristina nodded and waited for him to proceed. "Well, he's been madly in love with the red head, Lily Evans, for almost five years now. It began during first year, he loved teasing her and making fun of her because she was a ginger, then, when second year was almost over, he realized he liked it when she was mad. That she looked cute when angry. After then, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth year have been a nightmare to us. He always found a way to make her angry to see how cute she looked, then realized she was _always_ cute, not only when she was mad at him. Then he started to ask her out to Hogsmade and she'd decline is proposition every time, which made James realize she wasn't like all the other girls who would kill to go out with him. And it's been like this since then."

"Oh" was all Cristina could manage to say.

"Yes, oh" Remus agreed. "It's impossible for one to be around the other without finding any stupid reason to fight for."

Sirius chuckled and said, "Even when James stands up for her when a Slytherin calls her a mudblood, she finds a reason to get mad at him. And James is a jerk and is always hanging out with different girls almost every night with the purpose of getting laid, which just makes Lily hate him even more and gets him nowhere."

"Well, well, Padfoot, here I have to say that you're also a jerk" Remus stated. "James is not the only one who's great at complimenting girls to get them in your pants and leaving them on the same night; in fact you're even better than him. You're the master of womanizers."

"As if you have never done it, Moony" Sirius protested.

Remus sat down, his face turning red.

"Moony?" Cristina asked. "Is that a nickname?"

The two boys looked at her, both of them feeling a little tense, and nodded.

"And Padfoot is yours?" she questioned, pointing at Sirius.

He nodded and sent her a warm smile. "James is Prongs and Peter is Wormtail" he added.

"You know guys, you chose the weirdest nicknames ever" she stated and looked at them.

They laughed, a sense of relief running down their spines.

"We wanted our nicknames to be funny and mysterious at the same time" Remus said.

The door opened and James stormed in, feeling more annoyed than ever.

"Merlin, that woman is impossible to deal with!"

"Give her a break, Prongs" Remus said. "Don't expect her to be nice to you after all those years of getting her out of her nerves."

"But I- I-"

"If you really like her and want her to stop being so mad at you, maybe you should stop annoying and teasing her" Cristina said.

The three boys looked at them confused.

"I- I'm sorry, I know it's none of my business, I just wanted to... I'm sorry" she apologized, looking at James.

"No, don't be" he said and sat on the seat opposite hers. "I could use your help, you're a girl right? and you know what girls want, right?"

"What? I'm a girl? I thought I was a unicorn! Thank you for ruining my childhood!" She said ironically.

James just laughed and looked warmly at her. "I think I'm liking you better as the seconds run by" he admitted and high fived her. "Please, will you help me?"

She couldn't say no to those beautiful brown eyes behind those glasses. He looked like a kid lost in the mall.

"Okay" she sighed. "But I don't guarantee you any results because as Sirius said, I'm different than the other girls."

James looked confused at Sirius.

"She's such a tomboy, James. She loves pulling pranks on people, playing Quidditch and getting dirty!"

Cristina coughed at his last statement and the boy realized what he just said when he saw the two boy's faces.

"Oh, no, no! Not in _that _way you pervs!" He said before correcting himself. "I mean by playing in the mud wild and free!"

"You know what? It'd be better if you just shut up" Cristina cut him off. "You're giving them an image of me that is completely wrong!"

"Well, but you do pose for _Sexy Witch _magazine!" Sirius protested and grinned, winking at her.

Cristina couldn't believe he just did that. The other two boys stared at her in awe.

"YOU WHAT?!"

"What's the problem with posing half-naked for a magazine so boys can please themselves?" she blurted out loud.

The three boys stared at her like she had just said she was born inside a dragon's egg.

"Okay, I think I see the problem" she admitted looking at her feet, embarrassed.

"It's okay, little porn star, we won't judge you for your job" Sirius said embracing her with all his strength.

"I AM _NOT _A PORNSTAR!" She protested pulling him away and ignoring the other two smirks.

"James, if I were you I would not laugh at Sirius' stupid comment if you really want my help!"

His face went completely serious although he let out a comment "Well, as you and Sirius said, maybe your help won't get me anywhere as you're a tomboy porn star and you don't act much like a girl."

Cristina lunged herself to James but Sirius stopped her before she could kill him.

"I hate you" she said, a smile on her face.

She knew they were just playing, she knew they liked to tease each other and that made her feel part of their little group, even though she wasn't.

It was getting dark outside, they were almost in Hogwarts. Cristina wondered which house she'd be sorted in. She hoped it would be Gryffindor, where her only friends were.

The door flew open and Peter stood there, shocked and with a grin on his face.

"I can't believe what I just heard! A bunch of fourth year kids are spreading the rumor. Is it true, Cristina? Are you a-"

"A porn star?" Sirius asked. "Yes, she is."

The puzzled look on Peter's face made the rest of the Marauders and Cristina laugh so hard that they almost died there for lack of air in their lungs.

"What have I missed?" Peter asked himself, annoyed that he didn't know what was going on.

"It's okay Wormtail, next time you won't leave when James and Lily have a fight" Remus said, brushing the tears off of his cheeks with the back of his hands.

"_If_ we have another fight" James stated, winking at Cristina.

She smiled back at them and was grateful she had the courage to ask them if they would let her sit with them, because she had the feeling that they were going to make her seventh year at Hogwarts the best of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Let's Be Friends**

The train arrived at Hogwarts almost at dinner time. They got to the castle on a carriage pulled by invisible horses. Cristina never felt more excited. She felt the butterflies of nervousness in her stomach. She loved that feeling.

Once inside the castle, James, Peter, Remus and Sirius made their way to the Great Hall, where they would have dinner. But before she could get inside, a woman grabbed her arm and looked at her, from head to toe.

"Are you Miss Cristina Hernandez?" The woman asked in a very serious tone.

She gulped, nervous, and nodded.

The woman relaxed and flashed a small smile at her.

"I'm Professor McGonagall" the woman introduced herself. "I've received orders to make you wait with the first years to see which house you're sorted in. Welcome to Hogwarts, by the way."

Cristina managed a small nod before turning around to see a bunch of small kids looking at her. Oh great, now she'd have to enter the Great Hall next to a group of kids.

Once they got inside and went through the middle corridor towards the teacher's table at the opposite end of the Hall, she felt hundreds of eyes glued to her. Someone whistled.

"You were right! It's her!" another one whispered.

Cristina was feeling more and more nervous as she was approaching the teacher's table.

"That's my porn star!" Sirius joked as she passed by.

If glares could kill, he should be dead by now. James smiled at her and both Remus and Peter were giving her thumbs up. Once they reached the end they all stopped in front of a hat positioned on the top of a stool. Professor Dumbledore greeted them at Hogwarts and Professor McGonagall called the first year's names one by one and they sat on the stool with the hat on their heads. The hat decided which house they were sorted in. Once they were all sorted, Cristina was the only one left with everyone staring at her. It sent her goose bumps all over her body.

Professor Dumbledore got up and McGonagall sat down, letting him do all the work. He approached her and made her turn around to face the four large tables full of people, each one contained people from a different house. She could feel her face burning red and prayed to Merlin no one else would notice from such a distance.

"This year, we have a new student that decided to join us to complete her seventh year of studies in our school" Dumbledore said, grabbing my shoulders with a proud look on his face. "It is hard for someone your age to change school and habits and leave their friends to make new ones. It is even harder for someone who is from a different country. This girl has had the courage to do it and chose our school out of every other, and she deserves a round of applause."

People did as Dumbledore said so; even the teacher behind the two of them did, smiling.

"Now!" He said out loud, making them all stop and go silent again. "She will be sorted into one of our houses for her abilities and flaws, and I hope that wherever she gets sorted into, their house mates will help her through this year."

An awkward silence fell while she sat on the stool and waited for Dumbledore to put the hat on her head. She could feel the people staring at her, the pressure. She was shaking a little bit, she was more than nervous. The Marauders were smiling at her, an empty seat between James and Peter in case she got sorted into Gryffindor. Her heart was beating faster and faster as the Sorting Hat got closer to her head. She closed her eyes, ignoring the voice from the hat on her head, just listening to her heart beat. A moment later, she opened them to find the Gryffindor table on their feet, smiling and shouting with their fists in the air. The other tables were clapping their hands and soon stopped to focus on the food that just appeared in their plates.

Before heading to her seat, Dumbledore gave her a smile and a small nod letting her know that he knew everything. She felt a shiver run down her spine but ignored it.  
Soon she was laughing and joking with her house mates, having eating contests with Sirius, and smacking Peter's back so he wouldn't choke with the food and die.

After dinner they all went to the Gryffindor common room to have a few more laughs when James stood up and waved them goodnight.

"Where is he going?" Cristina asked.

"He's Head Boy now" Remus explained. "He has his own bedroom."

"And common room" Sirius added. "This connects with Head Girl's own bedroom. Head Boy and Head Girl share private headquarters. Isn't it cool?"

"Cool?" Peter questioned. "It's going to be _hell _in there. Or have you forgotten that Lily Evans is Head Girl?!"

Sirius thought for a moment and nodded. "Your right, Wormtail."

"I'm always right" he said.

"I'm going to bed, anyone coming?" Sirius asked, ignoring his comment.

"Well, I'm not going to _your_ bed but I should go to my bedroom, I'm tired and need some sleep."

The other two boys nodded and followed us upstairs.

"Hey, Cris" Sirius said and Cristina blushed at the nickname he just gave her. "Why don't you just take James' bed, since he has his own bedroom now?"

"Are you nuts?" Cristina blurted out. "We could get into real trouble if McGonagall finds out that a girl is spending the night in the boys' dorm."

"You scared, my little porn star?" he said giving her a daring look.

"You do know how to play dirty, Black" she answered taking a step forward at him.

"It's just a game, if you don't want to play, there's no need to" he stated, putting his hands up. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered "No pressure."

That's when Cristina couldn't take it anymore. She pulled away a little, facing him, her nose touching his, and looked defiantly into his eyes.

"Game on."

James had spent twenty-five minutes of his life standing outside the headquarters entrance. He didn't have the guts to get inside and face Lily. He didn't want her to yell at him. There was once when he thought it was a huge turn on, and it still was, but he was tired of them fighting over nothing. He wanted to make progress in their relationship and start being friends. But whenever he tried to be nice at her, she thought he had done something wrong. He pulled up his glasses and sighed. Maybe he shouldn't sleep here tonight; maybe he should go back to his old bed with his old roommates.

_"You're a coward, dude!" _a small Sirius dressed in a Greek toga and armor said to him from his shoulder. _"You have to be strong! Face your fears or you'll never get over them! If I were Zeus right now I'd send a lightning bolt right up your tight ass!" _

And with that, it vanished into a small _plof!_ James shook his head to get the thought out of his mind. Why the hell did he imagine Sirius dressed as a Greek hero? No, what's better; why the hell did he read all those mythology books during summer? But the small Sirius had a point. He had to face Lily, or else he would never get to see his Head Boy bedroom.

He muttered the password _Minotaurus _to the portrait, which opened to show him a short corridor that lead into a huge common room. Lily was sitting on the couch, reading a book.

"Oh, um... Hi" he muttered, standing right there, at the end of the corridor.

"Hi, Potter" said Lily without looking up at him.

"Nice common room, huh?" he said, trying to start a peaceful conversation with the girl.

"Hm-Hm" Lily answered with annoyance in her voice.

James walked to her and plopped right next to her on the couch.

"What are you reading?" he said, trying to sneak a peek on the pages.

"Nothing" Lily answered, this time more annoyed than the last one.

"Well, you obviously are reading something because if not then you would-"

"MERLIN, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT POTTER?!" She snapped, closing her book and putting it on the coffee table in front of them.

"Hey, don't scream at me!" He said, moving away to the other side of the couch in case she wanted to bite him.

"Well, you're being annoying, I just wanted to read in peace and then you came here asking stupid questions and talking nonstop! So . . ?"

James looked at her. Lily could see the hurt in his eyes. For an instant she felt bad and wanted to apologize, but she remembered all the times he had made fun of her, so she just remained silent, waiting for his response.

"I- I was just trying to be nice because I thought it would be better if we put aside our differences and tried to be friends now that we are Head Boy and Head Girl and have to spend more time together."

Lily was taken aback by his comment. She looked puzzled. She didn't know what to say or do. She just sat there, looking at him in confusion.

"Well, I see I'm the only one who's willing to change our relationship for the sake of our lives inside these headquarters. I'm going to bed, good night Lily, see you tomorrow" he said as he stood up and made his way towards his room.

Lily could tell he was being honest and that made her feel bad, really bad. The fact that he called her by her name and not surname made her smile.

"Potter, wait!" she called out before he could close the door to his bedroom and ran towards him.

"Do you need anything?" he asked, opening the door and a little surprised to see her standing right in front of him. For a while she remained silent and James was getting impatient.

"We could try" she blurted out.

"Try what?" He asked, shocked by her sudden outburst.

"You know, the whole being nice to each other thing" she said with a smile on her face, her cheeks turning red.

James loved her reaction and couldn't help put lean in closer to her.

"Good night, Evans" he whispered with a smile on his face, and before pulling away he gave her a quick peck on the cheek and waited to see her reaction.

Her eyes immediately stared at her feet, her face and ears were getting redder and redder. James smiled at this and closed the door to his bedroom. He focused on unpacking and getting his bedroom done to not think about Lily's reactions and get his hopes up.

_"Game on."_

Sirius couldn't stop thinking about these two words and how close she had been to him. He had always had a crush on her since the first time he saw her on _Sexy Witch_ magazine. Truth is, he did not only buy every number of the magazine to have pictures of her, but he had also bought once or twice fashion magazines where she was posing. He couldn't believe he had just met his idol, _and _his idol was his friend. He wanted to feel what it was like to kiss her on the moment they had been so close to each other. He felt her breath and it drove him insane. But Cristina only saw him as a friend. Not that he wanted to be more than that. Boyfriend/Girlfriend relationships had never been his type, he was the one for one nightstands. And with Cristina, he was sure he'd never get that. So he decided not to think of her that way and just as a friend.

When she came out of the bathroom in a big XL gray T-Shirt, a pair of yellow sweatpants shorts and knee-length white socks with two colored lines on the top, one pink and the other purple, he couldn't help but choke on his own saliva. She looked like a goddess. He wanted to see her in his own T-Shirt and boxers coming out of that bathroom. _"Control yourself you dumbass!" _his subconscious snapped at him. _"She's only ever going to be a friend. That's it! Now try to think of your grandmother in lingerie before you get a boner!"_

Sirius saw the looks on both Remus' and Peter's face and he coughed twice trying to get their attention. He sent them a _You're-drooling-mates-control-yourselves _look and looked back at Cristina, who was throwing herself on top of James' bed.

"Thank you guys for letting me stay with you" she said with her head buried in her pillow. "I don't know if I would've survived those make-up spoiled bitches in my bedroom."

"You're welcome" the three of them replied at the same time.

Sirius threw himself backwards, lying on his bed defeated, with a sigh coming out from his lips and fell asleep in an instant.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Mudblood**

Lily woke up with a smile on her face, she didn't know why, but she had the feeling that today would be a new start on her life as the first day of her seventh year. She rushed to the bathroom and showered, brushed her teeth and dried her hair. Once she put on her school uniform she went to the Great Hall to have breakfast.

She didn't have any friends. Well, she was friends with Alice and Margaret (if helping each other with their homework was considered being friends), but it's not like they ever had breakfast together. She always sat alone. She did everything by herself. She had a tough time letting people in her life and didn't mind keeping it that way. But today, she saw Cristina, the new girl, sitting with Remus and Peter and wanted to greet her. She didn't mind being around Remus, Peter and Sirius, James had always been the only problem to her. She couldn't stand being near him, but after last night, she figured it might change.

"Hey!" said Lily as she sat next to Peter, in front of Cristina and Remus.

"Hello!" They greeted her.

"I'm Lily Evans" she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Lily. I'm Cristina Hernandez" the other girl said with a smile plastered in her face.

"I hope yesterday's fight in the train between me and James hasn't made you think badly of me" Lily blurted out, hoping Cristina never got the wrong image of her.

"Don't worry, I don't usually judge people without getting to know them first" Cristina admitted. "If I'd been in your shoes, I'd probably act the same way towards James."

Lily laughed and shook her head in disbelief. At least this girl knew what it felt like to be around James.

"Give the boy a break" Peter interfered. "He's just trying to be nice to everyone this year."

"Well, yesterday he wasn't that nice to me" Lily stated.

"But it was you that started screaming at him like you were possessed" Remus said.

He had a point. It was her that started screaming at him when Lily found out he was Head Boy and it was also her who'd been rude when he picked up her book. But he always teased her and he made her go through hell the previous school years.

"Buenos dias!" Sirius said with a bad accent, sitting right next to Cristina and kissing her cheek.

"Buenos dias, Sirius" Cristina responded in her perfect Spanish accent and rubbing her hand on the cheek Sirius had kissed as if trying to clean it.

Lily rolled eyes at him and focused on her plate.

"You jealous, Lily Bean?" Sirius asked with a mocking grin on his face. "I can give you a good morning kiss to if you want to" and winked at her.

"No need to, Black" she answered and ate her eggs. "So, Cristina, where did you live before coming here?"

Cristina's body tightened. She went completely pale and it looked like she was having an argument with herself.

"I uh... I lived in l'Escala. It's a small village on the north-east coast of Spain. Close to the frontiers between Spain and France. I had to get a train from Figueres to Barcelona and from Barcelona to Madrid to get to _Los Santos_."

"Nice" Peter said. "How's your family like?"

Lily noticed how she hesitated before saying anything, but when she opened her mouth, someone interrupted her.

"Good morning, people!" James Potter sat next to Lily and food appeared in his plate.

"Uh oh..." Sirius, Remus and Peter muttered, looking back and forth from James to Lily.

"What?" Lily asked them.

"Please don't start fighting during our first breakfast from our last year, guys" Remus sighed. "I'd like to have a good start during my first day."

Lily couldn't help but chuckle and James did too. They both looked at each other and smiled for a brief moment, before turning to their plates.

"Wait" Peter broke the silence. "What's going on? You haven't even sent a death glare to each other!"

"Is this the apocalypse?" Sirius said in a fake horror and made Cristina laugh.

"Guys, could you cut this please?" James asked them. "Lily and I decided yesterday to start from anew, ignoring our past fights between each other as it is our last year and we don't want to spend it yelling at each other. We have to start cooperating because we are Head Boy and Head Girl and we have to live together so we better stop fighting. Right, Evans?"

"You said it, Potter" she agreed and looked at the others.

Cristina's mouth fell open and bacon fell from it to her plate. She then leaned closer to Sirius and whispered "I think they both are on drugs."

Sirius chuckled and agreed, both of them getting hit with eggs and bacon from James and Lily.

"Eww! Stop it, I just showered!" Cristina screamed. "I don't want to smell like bacon on my first day!"

They all started laughing and headed to Herbology, their first class.

The day went on, and when the last class had come to an end they all headed to Gryffindor's common room. On their way, Cristina felt someone's hand grab her arm and pull her into another corridor. Not one of her friends noticing it.

"What the-" before she could end the sentence, someone covered her mouth with one hand.

It was the boy from yesterday, Malfoy.

"Look who we have here..." he muttered while pressing her back into a wall. Cristina tried to scream but Malfoy warned her, "make a single sound, and I'll hex you to death."

She remained silent, her hard breathing the only sound her body emitted. Her back started to hurt from the strength Malfoy had pressed her into the wall.

"See, I don't like when people make fun of me, and you did yesterday. I also don't like mudbloods, and you are one. I can't change the fact that you're a filthy mudblood slut, but I can make you stop making fun of me" he threatened her.

Her eyes opened wide in horror when she saw him taking his wand of his pocket. She closed her eyes, wishing to not feel anything when she heard someone yell.

"_Expelliarmus!"_

Malfoy's wand fell to the ground and he looked puzzled.

Cristina and him turned their heads to see Sirius standing there, an angry look on his face, with James, Lily, Peter and Remus behind him. Wands in their hands. Cristina looked relieved as Malfoy let go of her. She tried to move towards their friends but Malfoy stood in her way.

"Well, well, look who we have here, the heroes of the day and Lily mudblood Evans" he whispered.

Lily took a step back, hurt by his comment and James approached her. "Take that back, Lucius!"

"Why should I? It's the truth. Truth is ugly and it hurts sometimes" Lucius Malfoy said in a calm tone.

"The only thing that hurts in here is your ugly face, Malfoy!" Sirius snapped.

"Are we still in third year, Black?" Malfoy commented. "Now I see why your family doesn't want you back home. You're a shame to them because you were sorted in Gryffindor and not in Slytherin, and you're a shame to them because you're too afraid of hexing your enemy and instead you use such lame comments to try and hurt me."

An angry look came up Sirius' face and his hand tightened around his wand. Cristina wanted to use this occasion where Malfoy was too distracted on Sirius to escape but, apparently, Malfoy was also focused on Cristina's movements and pushed her so hard she hit the wall with her back and smacked her head on it, falling down to her knees, unable to move.

"_Accio!"_ Sirius screamed, making Malfoy's wand go straight to his hand. "I can't believe you just hurt a girl. I'd hex you, but I want you to feel the pain right from my own hands!"

And with that he charged towards Malfoy and started beating the shit out of him.

"You fucking bastard!" Sirius screamed. "How dare you touch her!"

Malfoy fell to the ground with Sirius on top of him punching his face like crazy. James and Remus grabbed him to stop him, but he was just too full of adrenaline. Peter ran next to Cristina, helped her up, and carried her with Lily to their bedroom.

Lily knew a charm or two to make the pain go away and used it on her, while she was laying on her bed. Peter looked inside his bedside table for one of his chocolate bars and gave on to her.

A few minutes after the door swung open and a trio of bruised and beaten up boys entered the bedroom. Sirius was the one looking worse. Lily didn't understand how Remus and James got hit too.

"What happened?" she asked and ran next to the boys.

Sirius ignored her and walked towards Cristina's bed, where she was sitting with Peter right next to her.

"Regulus and Thomas joined the fight when they saw Sirius beating the crap out of Malfoy. McGonagall saw us and gave us a week of detention" James explained and winced when he tried to sit down on Peter's bed. Lily helped him and sat down next to him.

Remus laid down on his bed and Peter approached him as Sirius sat on the edge of Cristina's bed.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Me?" Cristina said bewildered. "I should be the one asking _you _this question! You look like hell!"

He just smiled and looked anywhere but at her. "I'll be fine as long as you are."

Cristina blushed at his comment and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"You're welcome" he answered.

That night Peter took Remus, who thought he had a pair of ribs broken, to the infirmary and both of them spent the night in there. James and Lily went back to their headquarters together in silence until Lily decided to speak.

"Thank you" Lily whispered as they approached the entrance.

"For what?" James said, snapping out of his daydreaming.

"For standing up for me before" Lily stated and muttered the password to their common room. They both stood in the short corridor, as the portrait closed, not saying anything, just looking at each other. "But you know there was no need to do so."

"But he called you a- a- a you know what!" he said, leaning back against the wall of the entrance.

"I've been called a- a _mudblood_ many times before" Lily whispered, choking on the insult. "It may affect me at the time, but after a few minutes I don't care anymore. You see, James, during this past years you and many others made me go through a lot of shit, and I learnt to just put up with it. I don't need anyone to save me from the stupid names people call me."

James smiled and looked directly at her.

"What?" she asked, puzzled.

"You called me James" he said, getting closer to her. "It's the first time I hear you say it in my whole life. I like it. You should do it more often" by this time, he was a few inches from her face, looking down at her.

"Then you should call me Lily too" she said.

"Okay, Lily" James whispered in her ear. The way he said it sent shivers down her spine. It made her blush like crazy and she didn't understand why, but she liked it, and she liked it a lot. He bent down to kiss her cheek but she moved away and made her way towards her bedroom.

He looked rather confused and it made her feel great.

"Good night, Lily" James said and made his way towards his bedroom.

Before Lily could think about it, she was on her way towards him and kissed his cheek.

"Night James" she said, and with that, she disappeared in her bedroom, leaving James completely stunned and shocked right in front of his bedroom.

Sirius was woken up by a scream in the middle of the night. He looked at his alarm clock, it was 2:23 AM. He saw Cristina kicking and screaming on her bed, tears running down her face. He ran towards her and tried to stop her.

"Cris! Cris wake up!" Sirius begged, trying to grab her arms so she wouldn't hit him. "Wake up please!"

"Make it stop!" Cristina screamed, her eyes still closed.

She was having a nightmare. One she usually had. She kept hearing a voice in her head saying _Eres la siguiente, sangre sucia!_ [You're next, mudblood] and her family's screams right after. He felt someone grab her arms and finally, she woke up and sat up, feeling someone's arms around her. Sirius.

"Hey, it's okay" he kept muttering while rubbing her back and kissing her hair. "No need to cry."

It wasn't until he said that that she realized she was crying. She sniffed and leaned more into Sirius' arms, as if they were an armor and protected her.

"Please don't go" she begged between her sobs, grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer.

Sirius didn't say anything; he just lay down next to her and covered them up with her blankets. He let her cry a little bit more into his chest before grabbing her chin and kissing her forehead. He brushed the tears from her cheeks with his thumb and wrapped her in his arms.

"Come on, sleep or you'll regret it tomorrow" he told her and she nodded.

Five minutes later, she was asleep and he kept thinking that he didn't want her to get the wrong idea of him. He was just doing it to be a friend to her, although deep inside, he felt like doing it for another reason he didn't want to know about.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Nightmares**

Lily woke up with a scream, beads of sweat running down her neck. She was absolutely sure this had been the worst nightmare she'd ever had. Sure she usually had tones of nightmares lately, the death of her father in a car accident two years ago and her mother falling into such a deep depression that made her sick caused all those nightmares. But this one was even worse. She dreamt of Lord Voldemort- her father still alive and her mother in good conditions- attacking her family in front of her, she was couldn't move or scream, she couldn't even blink. Voldemort killed them in front of her, she was unable to save them, and when he was done burning their bodies he turned to watch her and said _You're next, mudblood._

Her heart was racing and it took a few minutes to calm her breathing and stop shaking. She took a shower and got changed and raced to de Great Hall to have breakfast. None of his 7th year Gryffindor classmates was there. Five minutes after, Cristina sat down next to her.

"Good morning Lil- aaaah!" she screamed when Lily turned to see her. "Merlin, Lily, you look terrible! Didn't you get some sleep last night?"

Lily shook her head and took a bite of her waffle. "You don't look so great either."

Cristina sighed, wanting to tell her about her nightmare, but having to recall all those flashbacks from her past made her sick.

"I didn't get much sleep" she recognized. "Just some stupid nightmare, but nothing to worry about" she said, dismissing it with her hand.

"Me too" Lily agreed, trying to not to look affected by it, but failed.

They both let out a sigh and stared at each other.

"Wanna talk about it?" Lily asked.

Cristina remained silent for a moment, trying to think if it would be a good idea to tell her. Then all of the sudden it hit her, Lily also wanted to share her nightmare with her, and if it was just a silly nightmare she wouldn't look so affected by it, so it must have been something dark too. She finally nodded and opened her mouth to say something when Lily cut her off.

"Meet me in my bedroom after lessons" Lily said, pointing with her head at the entrance to the Great Hall that The Marauders were trespassing.

"Morning, ladies" Sirius greeted sitting in front of Cristina with a huge grin on his face which banished when he saw Cristina's looks.

The rest of the boys sat down without a clue of what had been going on.

"Are you okay?" Sirius whispered to Cristina, a look of worry on his face.

She started nodding, but stopped and whispered back, "No, truth I'm not."

"Whatever it was, don't worry about it, it was just a nightmare" Sirius said, trying to make her feel better.

The others stopped talking to listen to their conversation.

"No, it wasn't just a nightmare Sirius" Cristina said, her tone rising as the words came out of her mouth and she stood up. "I've been dealing with this kind of nightmares half of my life and I assure you it wasn't just a nightmare. I have night terrors, fucking night terrors!"

With that, she sat back down and focused on her plate while trying to avoid the stares from her friends and other people in the Great Hall that had heard her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-" Sirius tried to say but she cut him off.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. I'm used to it. I usually have them. Before it was almost every single night, but they have stopped a little now" she said, trying to calm her voice. "I know I should've told you guys that I had night terrors, and I know that you'll possibly get tired of hearing me scream like crazy. But I figured I'd rather put you through this knowing you might understand than letting those chicks from the girls dorm talk about me being a freak behind my back."

James, who was at her other side stroked her hair and patted her back a little.

"I know I'm not in this dorm anymore, but I'm sure the guys won't mind" he said in a hushed tone, trying to not get more attention than they already had from other tables. "So, what happened to you, Lil's? You look horrible too."

Lily froze at the nickname. It was the one his father used to call her before passing away. She couldn't take it. That and the fact that he just dared to say she looked horrible.

"Don't you dare call me that, Potter."

James was suddenly taken aback by her comment.

"What?" he just said, completely blank.

"You and I have no kind of friendly relationship where you are allowed to use that nickname" she spat.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I thought that we were friends!" James cried out loud. "Why are you suddenly acting like a bitch to me again?!"

"Oh, so now I'm acting like a bitch when you were the one to tease, prank and make fun of me since first year?!" Lily yelled, jumping off her seat. "You have no right to call me a bitch for just hating you for everything you did to me during those previous years! Plus, I am _NOT _the manwhore in here!"

"A manwhore?!" James screamed. "Did you just call me a bloody manwhore?!"

"Yes! I Just did! And you are!" She said, leaning in closer to him so she could scream right in his face. "I am not the one who's spent his free time since fourth year chasing after girls, pulling them in broom closets and fucking them _just _to leave them right after a goddamned shag!"

"At least I'm not a bloody book-worm nerdy girl whose idea of having fun is sitting by herself next to the lake reading _Tale of Two Cities_ and only eating _three _tiny squares of the chocolate bar you always hide in your fucking nightstand!"

Now it was Lily's turn to be taken aback by the other's comment. "H-How did you know about this?"

"As if it matters to you anyways!" He replied. "It doesn't matter how hard I try to be nice to you, how much I change, because I'll be always be a fucking prankster man-whore to you! But you know what? It's okay with me, I don't fucking want to be friends with someone so damn annoying and know-it-all like you!"

Annoying? Did he just call her annoying? She barely talked to people and he was the one calling her annoying, when he was the one who spent five years trying to take her out to Hogsmeade? She was done. She had enough of hearing him.

"Fuck you, _Potter._"

With that, she turned to her heels and ran off, trying to hold back her tears.  
Cristina stood up and looked at James. Oh man, was she mad!

"Why the hell did you have to call her a bitch and all those other things?!" she told him off.

"She started it!" James protested, sitting back, his mind only playing the last image he had of her: vulnerable, hurt, and about to break down.

"No she didn't James! She just asked you to not call her Lil's!" Peter retorted.

"She wasn't very friendly while saying it" James tried to make them see his point of view,

"Maybe because it might affect her when people call her that" Cristina explained. "Maybe she doesn't like it when people call her Lil's because that's the nickname someone very special to her uses."

James mouth made the shape of an O and words didn't come out of his mouth. He wanted to apologize but he was still mad at her. Why did she have to call him a man-whore. And what's even worse, why did she say they didn't have any kind of friendly relationship?

After classes, Cristina went to Lily's bedroom just to find her sitting next to the window, reading a book with red puffy eyes. Cristina knocked on the door twice before letting herself in.

"How are you feeling?" She asked her.

Lily closed her book and left it on her desk, then she sat on her bed and gestured for her to do so. Cristina closed the distance and sat next to her, looking at her warily.

"Listen, Lily, I just came here to say that there's no need to talk about anything if you don't want to or feel comfortable talking about it."

Lily shook her head and stared at her.

"It's- It's okay" she insisted. "It's the first time I've skipped classes in my whole life and it made me think. I guess I could use a friend right now, someone to talk to. And Cristina, from all the people I've met these years, you're the only one I feel comfortable enough to talk to."

Cristina's face lit up with a smile when she heard those words.

"Who's first?" Cristina asked, still smiling.

"Me" Lily insisted. "I guess you might be wondering why I reacted so bad when Potter called me Lil's..." she breathed in and sighed out loud, trying not to shake. "Well, it was what my dad used to call me, Lil's. He was the only one aloud to call me that. During the previous summer to sixth year he was killed in a car crash. We had a massive argument hours before the accident. He was telling me off for picking a fight with my sister- who refuses to talk to me because I'm the only witch in the family and thinks I'm a freak- when he decided to ground me for two weeks with no friends, or TV, or swimming pool, or even reading books! But you know what's the worst thing about it all?"

"What?" Cristina asked, cautiously, noticing the tears forming in her eyes with every word she spoke.

"Before he left the house, to find some peace in himself, I told him he was the worse dad on Earth and that I hated him. Hours later we received a phone call from the policemen. He was dead. I didn't get to say I'm sorry and apologize, I didn't get to take back all those things I said to him because I never really thought that way, I didn't get to say how much I loved him on last time. I didn't even get to say goodbye."

With this, she broke down and shoved Cristina into a friendly hug, asking for console. She hugged her back, running her hand down her back, realizing how Lily and her were so alike. They were in similar situations and they both hid it from everyone.

"I know how you feel, Lily" she mumbled. "I really do."

Lily broke off their hug and looked back at her. She hadn't finished telling her everything.

"Mum fell into depression after his death and now she's very sick. And now, my sister Petunia is engaged to Vernon and they are getting married in two months and are going to live on their own house. Which means they are going to leave my mother alone. And she can't be, she's so sick, so paranoid..."

She burst into tears again and they repeated the hugging process. _"Holy shit" _Cristina thought. _"She really is going through a hard time!"_

"Last night's nightmare was-" she gulped loudly and tried not to choke on her own words. "I saw Voldemort killing my family in front of me and I was unable to do anything to stop him from doing so. It was just terrible... But it wasn't until he looked at me and said '_You're next, mudblood'_ that I got really scared..."

"Merlin, what a night you've been th- wait. Can you repeat what he said?"

"'_You're next, mudblood.'"_

Cristina froze instantly. Lily couldn't tell why she did, but the look on her face made Lily scared.

"Cristina, what's wrong?"

"I- I heard those same words on my last night's nightmare too" she choked, gasping for air.

Suddenly, they both felt too cold, taking into account that they were both fully dressed and the heating was on. It was as if the room darkened and they saw a shadow staring at them through the window.

With a scream, they both jumped off of bed and ran to Gryffindor's common room and into the boy's dormitory.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys! I'm sorry that I didn't get to post any more chapters earlier, but two exchange studends (one from Marseille, France, and one from Canada) are staying over at mine's until next monday, and I didn't get any time to write anything. They are so nice and easy to be around, they are funny, they don't judge me for my Harry Potter obsession... hahaha So this chapter is more of a SiriusxCristina, but I promise next chapter will be mostly JamesxLily. Pinky swear! :) Hope you like it, review if you feel like doing it, I'd just like to know your oppinion, even if it's a negative one. :)

**Chapter 6: Oh-So-Kissable-Lips**

Sirius was lying on his bed, going through the pages of the last number of _Sexy Witch_ magazine, staring at a picture of Cristina in a turquoise bikini, half her legs drowned in the water of the Mediterranean Sea, smiling at the camera sensually. Her hair tied up in a messy bun looked almost red under the sunlight, the few freckles she had on her nose and cheekbones showing more than ever. She was gorgeous to Sirius' eyes. He fantasized about running her tongue and hands all over her body, possessing her against a wall, her legs wrapped around his waist and his lips glued to hers.

_"Stop it Sirius!"_ he told himself. _"Just friends, remember?"_

He looked up from his magazine to see what his friends were doing. Remus was doing homework on his desk; James and Peter were playing magic chess on Peter's bed. The room was quiet, which was something very rare because they were always messing around, screaming and laughing. You could tell there was a little bit of tension in the room after James told them he'd give up on trying being friends with Lily. He was sick of it, but that would do no good to him. Sirius could see the hurt in James' expression. He was determined to ignore Lily for the rest of the year unless it was strict to talk to her.

"I'm bored" Sirius yawned and got up from bed, leaving the magazine under his pillow and rubbing his stomach, "and hungry. Do you guys want to sneak into the kitchens and grab some food?"

Just then, the door to their bedroom flew open and the two girls that were causing so much trouble to James and Sirius' hearts rushed in, a look of horror in both their faces.

"Whoa! What's wrong?" Peter asked first.

"There... There was someone outside Lily's bedroom window!" Cristina said, gasping for air with both her hands on her knees.

"That's impossible" Remus said. "Her bedroom is fifty feet tall!"

(A/N: I don't know if the measure is correct, I converted 15 meters into feet and it said it was 50 ft? well, please don't mind it if it's not correct :3)

"We're telling the truth!" Lily insisted. "We were talking about those weird dreams we've been having lately and then..."

"Wait, weird dreams?" Sirius asked. "Does this one include last night's nightmare?" he pointed at Cristina.

She looked scared like hell and nodded. Then sat on her bed, and gestured Lily to sit next to her. Sirius sat on his own, giving them all his attention, the other three boys did the same.

"Do you want to tell us about those dreams?" Sirius asked, knowing that they would probably say no.

Cristina and Lily looked at each other and had one of those silent conversations, looking uneasy, and deciding either to tell them or not.

"Fine..." they both sighed.

Lily told them about her nightmare, excluding the truth about her family problems. She had enough with Cristina knowing it. She looked at James from the corner of her eyes and saw him staring back at her, his eyes fixed on hers, a look of worry in them.

"What about yours?" James asked, pointing with his head at Cristina.

She told them about her nightmare, how an unknown man killed her family in it and she couldn't do anything to save them.

"And he told you the same he said in Lily's dream, but in Spanish?" Peter asked, a bit concerned.

Cristina nodded and sighed, having trouble deciding to tell them next the whole truth or not. She looked at the boys and the girl who were looking at her, concern in all of their eyes. They all had been nice to her since she got here. And maybe hers was a really dark and private secret but she had the feeling that she could tell them, she could trust them and they could help her.

"Th- The truth i-is..." she stuttered and sighed, running a hand through her hair and fighting back the tears that threatened to fall down. "Guys, I- I don't know how to say it but-"

"Say what?" Remus asked.

"Mine wasn't just a nightmare. It was a flashback."

"WHAT?!" They all squeaked at the same time.

"When I was nine years old I- I started to notice some strange things were happening to me. Like when I was mad at someone an invisible force would get them and kick them in their butts, making them fall to the floor... That's when I discovered I was a witch. Both my parents are muggles, of course, but my dad... he... he already knew that magic existed because he was the one to tell me what I was. I don't know how or why he knew about it, he just did. And he told me that one day I'd receive a letter from Los Santos telling me I was accepted in their school and they'd teach me everything about magic. But that I couldn't tell anyone about it and that I had to try to control my power because it could be dangerous. One day, when I got home after mum picked me up from my muggle primary school in l'Escala I saw a man talking to my dad in English. He must've been my father's boss, as my dad worked for a company in England and traveled there almost every day. He was scary. They were having an argument.

When the strange man saw me, he tried to pick me up but my big brother came rushing to me and pulled me back before he grabbed me. He was trying to protect me from him. Then he said '_Eres la siguiente, sangre sucia' _and killed my family. Just then the door opened a bunch of strangers entered, all wearing wands in their hand and broomsticks in the other. The man immediately banished and I just blacked out. Next thing I know I was in an orphanage in Barcelona. And when I turned eleven I went to Los Santos until now, that I'm here."

They all looked at her with pity on their faces.

"But there's no need to feel sorry for me, I- I have accepted it already. I'm an orphan, but a rich one with a future thanks to my modeling job."

"But you keep having night terrors..." Sirius whispered, almost to himself.

"Yeah, but that's something I can't stop. They're just a reminder of a terrible part of my life. It affected me so much that even when I'm unconscious I keep reminding me of it" Cristina explained.

Lily couldn't help the tears that fell down her cheeks and hugged her. Cristina didn't shake her off, she needed it.

"So you both had similar nightmares and a voice told you the same?" Remus said.

Both girls nodded.

"And just after you told each other a silhouette appeared outside your window?" Peter said.

They nodded again.

"This sounds dangerous" James interfered. "Girls, I think you should tell Dumbledore about it."

"It's almost eleven o'clock now, he must be sleeping already" Lily said. "Plus, we have rounds now, we should get going."

James nodded, knowing how awkward it would be between the two of them while doing rounds. They both got to their feet and left the room wishing their friends good night and closing the door behind them.

Sirius was worried about the two girls. It couldn't be a coincidence that they both had similar nightmares. He was about to say something when he saw Cristina get to her feet, open the window and sitting next to it, lighting a cigarette and putting it into her mouth.

"You smoke?" He asked, shocked.

"Isn't it obvious?" she answered, showing him the cigarette.

"Oh, great!" Remus said. "We didn't have enough with one smoker around us, that now Cristina smokes too!"

"Shut up and go to bed" Sirius snapped back, and took a cigarette from his hidden pocket, making his way next to Cristina and lighting it up.

Much to Sirius' surprise, Remus did as he was told, and so did Peter. In a matter of minutes they both fell asleep.

Cristina and Sirius where both starting on their second smoke when Cristina decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you at breakfast" she whispered.

"It's okay, I would've reacted the same way" he answered and looked at her. "It must be pretty hard for you to deal with all this shit."

"It is, but, to be honest, I've got used to it" Cristina answered, looking into his eyes, forcing a smile so he could not see the pain she was dealing with.

Sirius could tell she was lying, he could see the truth behind her eyes, and said "You know what's sad about all of this?" he asked her without waiting an answer from her or a small nod. "That you've got used to it. it's something you shouldn't be dealing with, let alone deal with it, y'know?"

Cristina couldn't take her eyes off of him. Why was he so nice to her? Why did he have to be such a gentleman with her? He was so sweet, and nice, and funny, and good-looking, and hot- _"Stop it, stop it Cristina!" _she told herself. _"Just friends, remember? no boyfriends, no romantic feelings towards any boy. Just friendly feelings. Nothing else." _

"I- I just don't want to talk about it" she said. "Do you mind if I change the subject?" and without waiting for an answer from him, she just asked "Do you wanna play -Would you rather?-"

Sirius just nodded, knowing the subject was over and not wanting to pressure her anymore.

"Okay, I'll start" she said, inhaling another bit of her cigarette. "Would you rather kiss James or McGonagall's butt-hole?"

Sirius looked quite disgusted at her question and looked for an answer but couldn't find any. Then Cristina said "Just let me say that if you kissed James, who is your best friend, you'd see him every day and be reminded that you kissed his oh-so-kissable-lips. And if you kissed McGonagall's butt-hole The Marauders would remind you of this until the day you die."

"First of all, James' oh-so-kissable-lips? _Really? _Second, why should The Marauders know about my butt-hole kiss to McGonagall?" He said, making a disgusted face at the thought of kissing either one of them.

Before Cristina could answer, he just left her standing there, cigarette in his hand, and started looking around the room, until he stopped under Remus' bed and took something from under it. He approached Cristina again and took his desk chair to sit next to her, their arms outside the window, so the bedroom wouldn't smell like tobacco. He gestured Cristina to sit on his lap, and although she was having some doubts, she just did what he said.

"What did you get?" Cristina asked.

"Do you know what weed is?" He asked her back.

"Of course I do, man! Do you know that the first thing you learn from a language are swear-words and illegal things?" She answered with a cocky smile on her face, wrapping an arm around his neck and looking down at him. "You gonna give me some, right mate?"

"Hmm... Let me think about it..." He said, resting his chain between his thumb and index finger. "Of course!"

"Shhhhh! Could you just shut up, please?!" Peter yelled from his bed.

"Sorry!" They both answered at the same time and silently laughed.

After some time of playing Would-you-rather and smoking weed, they were both laughing and getting closer and closer until their noses touched and they could feel each other's breaths' on their necks.

"Would you rather kissing James' oh-so-kissable-lips or mine's?" he asked her.

"Although I find James really attractive and _really_ kissable, I find black-haired guys with blue eyes like yours _WAY_ more attractive" with that, she just bent down and closed the space between their lips, savoring his taste. After a few seconds, they both pulled apart and started giggling like crazy.

"We shouldn't have done that" he said, trying to lower his voice as much as possible.

"I know right?" she said in a whisper in his ear, running her left leg above his head just to sit straddling him. "We're just high, things like that always happen between friends when they get high."

He just nodded and kissed her again. Just a brief kiss before getting up, holding her with a hand on her butt and the other on her back, closing the window and leading them to her bed. He was high and horny as hell, but he sure as hell would never try to do anything to her without her _conscious_ permission. He just wanted to lay next to her and wrap her in his arms.  
Once they were both lying next to each other, he put her hair behind her ear and murmured "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

But she didn't hear it, she was already fast asleep, cuddling next to him with a huge smile on her face and her lips half-parted. She looked like a sexy devil and a sweet angel at the same time. _"Damn, man! You bloke got it hard!" _A voice in his head whispered to him. _"I know" _he thought, _"I know."_

With that, he fell asleep too and his mind wandered to a parallel universe where he and Cristina would someday be more than friends.

Well, that's it for now! I'll try to post as sooner as possible. I think I'm going to post another chapter next Monday, because with the exchange students and all I don't really have time to write anything. Plus, last Tuesday I bought Insurgent (the sequel to Divergent from Veronica Roth) and I'm so addicted to it that I can't think of anything else. I recommend them to you, they're great. Well, I hope you liked this chapter and that you read my new one on Monday! :)

Att; ~badgirlsneverchange


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